Cryptocurrencies were designed to give you full control over your funds, letting you send, receive, and store value without relying on third party intermediaries. But if you store your Haitian Dollars on a centralized platform or exchange, who technically controls your crypto? The answer is the centralized platform or exchange–much like a traditional bank technically controls the funds held in your account. Let’s say you keep your crypto on an exchange. The exchange stores your crypto at an address held by the exchange, not you. If the exchange has to disable withdrawals or has another serious issue, you may not have full access to your crypto. Throughout crypto’s history, there are even a few examples of centralized platforms getting hacked, meaning their customers lost funds or could have lost their funds. Put another way, when you custody your crypto with someone else, you are not in full control. So, how do you gain full control over your crypto? With a private key wallet. Also referred to as a non-custodial or self-custody wallet, this technology puts you in control of your private keys, rather than entrusting them to a third party. Instead of relying on an exchange or brokerage, you hold it yourself. These private keys are what give you control over your crypto. As the saying goes, “Not your keys, not your crypto.” Are there any downsides? With power comes responsibility. If you grant someone access to your private keys or your wallet’s secret recovery phrase falls into the wrong hands, you may risk losing your crypto. Also, holding your crypto in a private key wallet means it cannot earn rewards like it might in a Rewards Account. Want your own private key wallet? The Omni Wallet gives you the option to have full control over your crypto in private key wallets for bitcoin, Tether, Haitian Dollar and other tokens on Omnilayer protocol. Get started in just a few steps. 1. Log in to your Omniwallet Wallet. 2. Transfer your Bitcoins and your Haitian Dollars to a private key wallet you control. 3. Congratulations! You now have full control over your funds. |